It is well-known to use objects within an electronic document. The object may cause text and/or images to appear in the electronic document at a user-defined location. Objects may include rules that affect the object. However, rules in conventional objects are associated with the environment that the object is used in, such as the particular document that the object is used in. It would be desirable to define objects that are not constrained in this manner. The present invention fulfills such a need.